April 14, 2003



Dr. Myles Brand, President
The National Collegiate Athletic Association
700 W. Washington Street
P.O. Box 6222
Indianapolis, Indiana 46206-6222

Re: Penn State Sexual Assault Case

Dear Dr. Brand:

Earlier this year Pennsylvania State University allowed a student that they had recently expelled for allegedly sexually assaulting a female student to play football for them in the Capital One Bowl. The expelled student, Anwar Phillips, was allowed to complete the fall semester before his two semester expulsion took effect, but that semester ended on December 21, 2002 and the game was not played until January 1, 2003.

Effectively this means that an athlete who was no longer a Penn State student was allowed to represent the institution in an NCAA sanctioned event. As you know, Article 14 of the NCAA bylaws requires that players be students in good standing, and places responsibility on the school to withhold any ineligible student-athlete from competition.

It is clear to us that Anwar Phillips could not have been a student in good standing after December 21st and that Penn State allowed him to compete anyway. In addition to being an outrageous slap in the face of the victim, and sending the message that NCAA institutions tolerate criminal behavior by their student-athletes, we believe that an NCAA rules violation may have occurred.

So that justice may be done, please take all steps needed to investigate this situation, and if a violation has occurred nothing less than the most serious response should be forthcoming. For your reference, I have enclosed copies of recent published reports about this incident, as well as a copy of Penn State’s official academic calendar which clearly indicates that the Fall 2002 semester concluded on December 21st.

Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to these most serious issues.

Sincerely,



Howard K. Clery, III
Executive Director